'm not super sure how it would interact with a soft case like this, but my thought was that it would fill the rest of the case and would prevent the keyboard from sliding around (if you had a board that did not perfectly fill the intereior) while also allowing for the flexibility/support for a lot of case sizes. I don't think it would prevent the keys from being pressed either - I think the velcro strap suggestion would be a better fix to hold the case in place, or maybe including a hard-ish shell to prevent anything other than the case putting weight on the keycaps.

I'm curious what other problems might come up if the foam was included or what problems you've seen crop up when using it?

The pick & pluck I've used, even from high end, has had debris problems, even when not picked. With a keyboard, that could be pretty bad. It's also usually used to compartmentalize, which isn't really what this needs, so wouldn't solve the problem IMO. Perhaps thin strips of foam at best, especially, as you said, this is soft sided. But not pick and pluck. Just my opinion.

Man, this can't come out soon enough. I just got a realforce 87u for the office and have been looking HARD for a case to transport it to/from work and all the bags that came up when searching are no longer produced (like the leopold bag from elitekeyboards). I don't like just using a backpack since I'm sure keys are getting pressed.

Keys are designed to withstand pressing, you know?

It never occurred to me to care about this issue myself; what do other folks think? I could probably add some foam blocks on each side to prevent accidental key pressing, but it would limit the range of keyboards with which the case would be compatible, I would think. At least that would be the case unless I engineered a more sophisticated adjustable velcro-based solution. That could be fun though.

By way of an update, I'm still searching for a vendor who is willing to make this at non-astronomically-high quantities. =\

Maybe you could use a pick/pluck-type foam? I wouldn't be worried about key presses as much as the case/keycaps rubbing or rattling repeatedly against the side when the bags moving.

Man, this can't come out soon enough. I just got a realforce 87u for the office and have been looking HARD for a case to transport it to/from work and all the bags that came up when searching are no longer produced (like the leopold bag from elitekeyboards). I don't like just using a backpack since I'm sure keys are getting pressed.

Keys are designed to withstand pressing, you know?

It never occurred to me to care about this issue myself; what do other folks think? I could probably add some foam blocks on each side to prevent accidental key pressing, but it would limit the range of keyboards with which the case would be compatible, I would think. At least that would be the case unless I engineered a more sophisticated adjustable velcro-based solution. That could be fun though.

By way of an update, I'm still searching for a vendor who is willing to make this at non-astronomically-high quantities. =\

Maybe you could use a pick/pluck-type foam? I wouldn't be worried about key presses as much as the case/keycaps rubbing or rattling repeatedly against the side when the bags moving.

Nice case, though! I like the design overall

I feel like that would be pelican case territory no?

I mean a lot of manufacturers use the pick-and-pluck-type foam for all kinds of cases; it's not unique to Pelican. Also, Pelican doesn't produce any soft cases like this afaik.

But chuckdee made a solid point - I don't think it would be the best option for most people who would use this as an everyday carry bag for their keyboard due to the foam flaking apart with daily use.

Man, this can't come out soon enough. I just got a realforce 87u for the office and have been looking HARD for a case to transport it to/from work and all the bags that came up when searching are no longer produced (like the leopold bag from elitekeyboards). I don't like just using a backpack since I'm sure keys are getting pressed.

Keys are designed to withstand pressing, you know?

It never occurred to me to care about this issue myself; what do other folks think? I could probably add some foam blocks on each side to prevent accidental key pressing, but it would limit the range of keyboards with which the case would be compatible, I would think. At least that would be the case unless I engineered a more sophisticated adjustable velcro-based solution. That could be fun though.

By way of an update, I'm still searching for a vendor who is willing to make this at non-astronomically-high quantities. =\

Maybe you could use a pick/pluck-type foam? I wouldn't be worried about key presses as much as the case/keycaps rubbing or rattling repeatedly against the side when the bags moving.

Nice case, though! I like the design overall

I feel like that would be pelican case territory no?

I mean a lot of manufacturers use the pick-and-pluck-type foam for all kinds of cases; it's not unique to Pelican. Also, Pelican doesn't produce any soft cases like this afaik.

But chuckdee made a solid point - I don't think it would be the best option for most people who would use this as an everyday carry bag for their keyboard due to the foam flaking apart with daily use.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan either. I'm currently looking at the kind of padded velcro inserts you see on Billingham bags to prop up camera lenses.

Hey all. I finally have made some progress on the long-awaited TKL bag! I was having zero luck with factories in China on this one because they all wanted enormous MOQs in the thousands, which isn't feasible for a little niche project like this. However, I managed to find a factory here in California that works with really high-end American luxury brands that is interested in doing the project, so long as I can squeeze it in before their holiday rush starts (within a month or so). Their MOQs are much lower, and they seem to be both very competent and friendly. Because they're in California, I'll be able to fly down and film some of the production, should we decide to proceed. It won't be cheap, but I think they'll be pretty damned nice. So I wanted to see if I could get some quick feedback to gauge interest. Poll link below.

My plan is to do both the TKL and Number Pad bags at the same time. I'm upgrading the interior lining to genuine suede and have made several other improvements since the prototype. The bullion wire patch will come by default with my insignia, but I'll also offer optional Cherry MX and Topre patches, which are swappable because of their velcro backing. The number pad bag attaches via MOLLE loops to the TKL bag but can be used on its own via its high-quality stitched leather handle. Both bags will have really awesome leather-covered piping, nice details like fancy seam binding, zipper covers, heavy-duty padding, waterproof cordura outer shell, etc. It's as much a fancy-pants luxury bag for your most prized keyboard as it is a "tactical" bag, but it's a sort of hybrid of what I think to be the best of both types of carry bag.

I should have proper samples this coming week from the California maker and will post very detailed photos and perhaps a video. The fancier materials and USA manufacturing are going to make this a somewhat different and more expensive/high-end product, but I think it'll be worth it. Pricing should be under $200 for the TKL bag, and I'm not quite sure yet what for the number pad bag, but it should be proportionally less—still waiting on numbers for the factory based on how hard it is for them to make the samples. Of course, I'll do a reduced price for people who want to get both together. That's not inexpensive, I know, but it's non-trivially less than the many similar bags made by Jack Spade, which are all made in China.

I like the rifle bearing clasps. I'd like to see some modifications, however:

* YKK® AquaGuard® zippers, TSA lockable with silent zipper pulls (Paracord).* 22 oz. Water-Resistant Semi-Truck Tarpaulin (black) for the outer facing material, or maybe just on the non-molle side that touches your body, possibly with an interior pocket for quick access or specifically for USB cables. That way people could wear the bag two ways by flipping it over - one side with a minimalist clean face and one side with a military molle / velcro face for accessories. You could also use this material with bonded hypalon or fidlock attachments like on Black Ember Citadel series to attach an accessory or numpad bag rather than the dated molle look. Keep the edge sides in Cordura Ballistic Nylon, 1000D or 1680D, possibly reinforced with seatbelt material.* Closed cell foam padding for keyboard protection, elevate keyboard away from corners. Crappy foam will be the first thing to break down besides the zippers.* Matte black steel gun clips and d-rings. No cheap plastic.* Fidlock magnetic quick release buckle on chest strap, or even better would be AustriAlpin™ COBRA® Quick Release buckle to echo the theme.

High quality milspec seatbelt material ala DEFY Chicago bags would probably be better for your handles and straps. It can also reinforce the cordura nicely around the bag edges to stiffen the bag and keep shape.

Consider extending the zipper so that the bag opens flat. Consider the user experience - high end custom keyboards are usually grapsed by the sides, and especially the more heavy or bulky designs will be awkward to slide out of the top of the bag without scratching keys across the zippers or dropping the keyboard. If the bag opens flat you can display and pick up the keyboard effortlessly and safely with two hands. TX keyboards has a very nice hardshell case that does this perfectly and is absolutely necessary when handling heavy brass keyboards.

Suggest making the interior a light grey color so it is easier to see in the bag, e.g Aer San Francisco Work Collection. I don't think I've ever seen suede on a technical milspec bag - I typically look for reflective Cordura materials (Tumi has a nice honeycomb silver). I don't know if suede is an upgrade or not from a performance/protection/price perspective.

What I really like is that the Velcro let's you remove the gaudy logos or add your own. I hate logos. I don't understand paying for something that makes me a walking advertisement. The removable patch is a good compromise between people that want it and people that dont. Very much reminds me how GoRuck does it, which also means it complies with Army Regulation 670-1 which specifically disallows commercial logos.

However, I wish the Velcro patch was square or rectangular to use the same design language as the rest of the bag. The molle for the pens also isn't spaced the same vertically as the regular molle next to it, which causes me some OCD. If you stick with Molle it would also be nice if the Molle went all the way across the bag front to the reinforced edges so that it would work with the Massdrop x Intern Series Weatherproof Modular Carry Pouches as well as the Mission Workshop ARKIV(tm) and competing compatible systems. It would also be more modern and cleaner. You could then echo the bottom two rows of Molle on the sides of the bag for additional utility if you decide not to extend the zipper.

I like the rifle bearing clasps. I'd like to see some modifications, however:

* YKK® AquaGuard® zippers, TSA lockable with silent zipper pulls (Paracord).* 22 oz. Water-Resistant Semi-Truck Tarpaulin (black) for the outer facing material, or maybe just on the non-molle side that touches your body, possibly with an interior pocket for quick access or specifically for USB cables. That way people could wear the bag two ways by flipping it over - one side with a minimalist clean face and one side with a military molle / velcro face for accessories. You could also use this material with bonded hypalon or fidlock attachments like on Black Ember Citadel series to attach an accessory or numpad bag rather than the dated molle look. Keep the edge sides in Cordura Ballistic Nylon, 1000D or 1680D, possibly reinforced with seatbelt material.* Closed cell foam padding for keyboard protection, elevate keyboard away from corners. Crappy foam will be the first thing to break down besides the zippers.* Matte black steel gun clips and d-rings. No cheap plastic.* Fidlock magnetic quick release buckle on chest strap, or even better would be AustriAlpin™ COBRA® Quick Release buckle to echo the theme.

High quality milspec seatbelt material ala DEFY Chicago bags would probably be better for your handles and straps. It can also reinforce the cordura nicely around the bag edges to stiffen the bag and keep shape.

Consider extending the zipper so that the bag opens flat. Consider the user experience - high end custom keyboards are usually grapsed by the sides, and especially the more heavy or bulky designs will be awkward to slide out of the top of the bag. If the bag opens flat you can display and pick up the keyboard effortlessly. TX keyboards has a very nice hardshell case that does this perfectly and is absolutely necessary when handling heavy brass keyboards.

Suggest making the interior a light grey color so it is easier to see in the bag, e.g Aer San Francisco Work Collection. I don't think I've ever seen suede on a technical milspec bag - I typically look for reflective Cordura materials (Tumi has a nice honeycomb silver). I don't know if suede is an upgrade or not from a performance/protection/price perspective.

What I really like is that the Velcro let's you remove the gaudy logos or add your own. I hate logos. I don't understand paying for something that makes me a walking advertisement. The removable patch is a good compromise between people that want it and people that dont. Very much reminds me how GoRuck does it, which also means it complies with Army Regulation 670-1 which specifically disallows commercial logos.

However, I wish the Velcro patch was square or rectangular to use the same design language as the rest of the bag. The molle for the pens also isn't spaced the same vertically as the regular molle next to it, which causes me some OCD. If you stick with Molle it would also be nice if the Molle went all the way across the bag front to the reinforced edges so that it would work with the Massdrop x Intern Series Weatherproof Modular Carry Pouches. It would also be more modern and cleaner. You could then echo the bottom two rows of Molle on the sides of the bag for additional utility if you decide not to extend the zipper.

Really interested in how that hypalon material on the citadel is going to feel like. Still waiting on that tracking number.

Wetherbee, I like your ideas above in general terms, but I think for this project I'm just making a different bag than the one you have in mind.

It probably makes most sense to think of this project as I've envisioned it as a more of a "keyboard brief," which incidentally has what we can perhaps call a nod to tactical-bag aesthetics rather than a full-on, hard-core, mil-spec bag for carrying on assassination missions. I renamed the thread accordingly to avoid confusion.

Really, the concept grew out of my love for the soft briefcases made by Jack Spade (basically, metrosexual man-bags) but in response to my frustration that their briefcases aren't quite right for carrying around keyboards to meet-ups and working outside of the home (wrong size/proportions, no padding, scratchy interior zipper pulls, often no closable interior pockets for small parts or tools). But I'm also into Goruck bags and the more or less minimalist black-centric style seen in a lot of tactical gear. So this bag is a sort of hybrid of those concerns and aesthetics on my part, and a response to my own singular quirks and desires in a bag. I've added things in response to community requests, such as the MOLLE number pad bag option, but ultimately this is still it's pretty much just the bag I wanted for myself. It sounds like yours would look different and be something different, and that's cool. Maybe that's the one I can I make next. ;) Or, better yet, I'd be happy to help you look into making one of your own and offering it up to the community. For better or worse, I've learned a lot about bag prototyping, sourcing, and manufacture over the past many months—though, alas, mostly of it has been to observe how annoyingly hard and expensive it is. =\

Wetherbee, I like your ideas above in general terms, but I think for this project I'm just making a different bag than the one you have in mind.

It probably makes most sense to think of this project as I've envisioned it as a more of a "keyboard brief," which incidentally has what we can perhaps call a nod to tactical-bag aesthetics rather than a full-on, hard-core, mil-spec bag for carrying on assassination missions. I renamed the thread accordingly to avoid confusion.

Really, the concept grew out of my love for the soft briefcases made by Jack Spade (basically, metrosexual man-bags) but in response to my frustration that their briefcases aren't quite right for carrying around keyboards to meet-ups and working outside of the home (wrong size/proportions, no padding, scratchy interior zipper pulls, often no closable interior pockets for small parts or tools). But I'm also into Goruck bags and the more or less minimalist black-centric style seen in a lot of tactical gear. So this bag is a sort of hybrid of those concerns and aesthetics on my part, and a response to my own singular quirks and desires in a bag. I've added things in response to community requests, such as the MOLLE number pad bag option, but ultimately this is still it's pretty much just the bag I wanted for myself. It sounds like yours would look different and be something different, and that's cool. Maybe that's the one I can I make next. Or, better yet, I'd be happy to help you look into making one of your own and offering it up to the community. For better or worse, I've learned a lot about bag prototyping, sourcing, and manufacture over the past many months—though, alas, mostly of it has been to observe how annoyingly hard and expensive it is. =\

This is about what I thought, considering what you'd been saying so far, and what your sample looked like. And it's great for that! I'm just glad that you included MOLLE at all! It means I can clamp my EDC bag to the bag!

No worries. I'm not advocating for any changes to the design other than extending the zipper to open flat. On the design front you nearly nailed it.

All of my suggestions had to do with reinforcing the materials or using better hardware and more weather-resistent materials to survive daily use. I own a lot of bags. Without adopting some of the upgrades I suggest, I would be afraid to put my keyboard in a bag that can't handle being dropped from a motorcycle, unexpectedly checked by the airline, surviving a sudden thunderstorm, or simply being carried daily for several years. If it can't handle bumps and weather, this just ends up being a bulky "keyboard sleeve" that I would have to slot into an existing bag that does meet IPX-06 or other MILSPEC standards. Otherwise what does this do that a cheaper mass-produced messenger sling doesn't already accomplish?

You have the general outline of a great bag. I think it is better than the Wallye Tactik TKL keyboard bag on Kickstarter (althouh that bag is similar but it only had a $35 price point and was just slightly too short to fit the Norbaforce's forehead). The devil is in the details, though. I'm not criticizing the shape language, I think all the dimensions are perfect, especially since I want to use this to carry a Norbaforce on my bike commute to work and coffee shops every day. I see great potential, but definitely disappointed that the thread title changed. How am I going to do keyboard assassinations now?

Lots of community members have keyboards that cost in excess of a thousand dollars. Like you, I'm convinced a softside commuter brief can work and be much more convenient, attractive, and less bulky than hardside solutions like Pelican cases or the ubiquitous keyboard hardside developed by the Koreans. You've already got Cordura, molle, Velcro, rifle bearing connectors and padding so I see it as feature-complete. You just need to test practical survivability. Take it on a 30 day trip to Southeast Asia and see how well it performs in monsoon season. Ultimately you should be able to answer yes to the question "Is this bag deployment ready?"

I know it's been mentioned a number of times, but I wanted to say that a removable divider to split the compartment for split keyboards would make this from a "nice-to-have" to a "must-have" for me. I'm thinking a velcro divider like some have mentioned, but any way to split the main compartment to make this more split-keyboard friendly would be a big win.

I didn't keep up to speed on this the last few months, will the bag also be able to accommodate a laptop?

Second this.

I really hope a laptop space will be incorporated. Doesn't have to super big, just big enough for a 15" macbook pro, xps 15, blade 14/15"- The workhorses.

My feeling is that if I made it big enough to accommodate a laptop, it wouldn't really be any different from any of the many laptop briefs already out there. Maybe someday I'll make a combo bag like that with a keyboard pocket in it, but then it would be, well, more of a laptop bag with a keyboard pocket than a keyboard bag per seo. And my goal here was to make a straight-up keyboard carry bag.

Ooo, do you think you'd have any time for a mini-meet while you're in town?

That would be fun, but sadly I probably won't have time. I'll likely just be there for about 4 hours--to avoid my having to book a hotel for the night. I'm planning on coming to the forthcoming SoCal meetup, however! Hopefully we'll have a chance to chat there?

Ooo, do you think you'd have any time for a mini-meet while you're in town?

That would be fun, but sadly I probably won't have time. I'll likely just be there for about 4 hours--to avoid my having to book a hotel for the night. I'm planning on coming to the forthcoming SoCal meetup, however! Hopefully we'll have a chance to chat there?

Ooo, do you think you'd have any time for a mini-meet while you're in town?

That would be fun, but sadly I probably won't have time. I'll likely just be there for about 4 hours--to avoid my having to book a hotel for the night. I'm planning on coming to the forthcoming SoCal meetup, however! Hopefully we'll have a chance to chat there?

Sure thing, I'm definitely hoping to make it up to that!

Awesome. I'm looking forward to that one myself. Any excuse to come to SoCal, I always happily take.

Yes, the bags have arrived at the warehouse and are all ready to go. I am waiting on the patches, but those arriving to me today. I need to send those off to the warehouse and then make a proper listing with photos and such, but I'm not far off from all that. These should be up, ready, and available well in time for the holidays.

Yes, the bags have arrived at the warehouse and are all ready to go. I am waiting on the patches, but those arriving to me today. I need to send those off to the warehouse and then make a proper listing with photos and such, but I'm not far off from all that. These should be up, ready, and available well in time for the holidays.

Will these be out before the heavy 6 bags? I think I might have to buy one of these too although my wallet hates me

Yes, the bags have arrived at the warehouse and are all ready to go. I am waiting on the patches, but those arriving to me today. I need to send those off to the warehouse and then make a proper listing with photos and such, but I'm not far off from all that. These should be up, ready, and available well in time for the holidays.

Yes, the bags have arrived at the warehouse and are all ready to go. I am waiting on the patches, but those arriving to me today. I need to send those off to the warehouse and then make a proper listing with photos and such, but I'm not far off from all that. These should be up, ready, and available well in time for the holidays.

Will these be out before the heavy 6 bags? I think I might have to buy one of these too although my wallet hates me

Hehe, well I appreciate the support. They will indeed be out before the Heavy-6 bags (confusingly, I know). The Heavy-6 bags are being made right now and should be ready about the same time as the housings themselves.

Awesome! The heavy-6 bag is outrageously high quality so this was surely an instant buy.

Thanks for saying that! My bag manufacturing partner here in California does amazing work--definitely a case of getting what we pay for.

The only thing I was only medium-happy with on the Heavy-6 bag were the patches, which are made by another workshop. Some of the logos weren't entirely consistent/uniform, so for the TKL brief I switched to another vendor, and these looks flawless. I'm really happy with the result.

I just received my bag and patches today, and I am super happy with them. Construction and design are of extraordinarily high quality. This bag will make my keyboard rotation at work much more pleasant.